Culture of mycelium

ABSTRACT

A method and means for keeping a culture of mycelium in a sterilized container, constituted by a plurality of bags nesting within one another and the edges of which are pleated together repeatedly in substantially bellow shape. The innermost bag is advantageously a perforated bag of yielding transparent plastics carrying the mycelium and inserted in one of two outer bags of paraffin-impregnated paper enclosed in a strong paper bag. Such a bag system may be stored for subsequent delivery.

United States Patent [1 1 Massier 1 Feb. 11,1975

1 1 CULTURE OF MYCELIUM [75] Inventor:

[22] Filed: Apr. 8, 1974 [21] App]. No.: 459,189

Related [1.8. Application Data Pierre Massier, Ris-Orangis, France [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 134,829, June 25, 1971,

abandoned.

[52] 11.8. C1 195/81, 195/54, 195/142 [51] Int. Cl C121) U110 [58] Field of Search 195/52, 53, 54,81, 139;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,430,459 11/1947 Farrell 229/55 2,851,821 9/1958 Guioehon 195/54 3,102,082 8/1963 Brewer 195/54 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Kraft et al., Effect of Packaging Materials on Keeping Quality of Self Service Meats," Food Technology, Jan. 1952,1 1 8-12.

Woodroof et al., Protective Packaging of Frozen Foods," Refrigerating Engineering, Feb. 1954, pp. 4548.

Primary ExaminerLionel M. Shapiro Assistant Examiner-R. B. Penland Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Karl F. Ross; Herbert Dubno 5 7] ABSTRACT A method and means for keeping a culture of 'mycelium in a sterilized container, constituted by a plurality of bags nesting within one another and the edges of which are pleated together repeatedly in substantially bellow shape. The innermost bag is advantageously a perforated bag of yielding transparent plastics carrying the mycelium and inserted in one of two outer bags of paraffin-impregnated paper enclosed in a strong paper bag. Such a bag system may be stored for subsequent delivery.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATEM'ED 3,865,695

SHEET 10F 2 INVENTOR:

Pierre MASSIER BY (Ka Rm! Attorney PATENIEB FEB] 1 I975 SHEEI P. U?

INVENTOR Pierre MASSIER q- BY 54ml Attorney CULTURE. F MYCELIUM This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 134,829, filed June 25, 1971, now abandoned.

The cultivation of the mycelium or spawn of fungus is performed within a container adapted to be sterilized and carrying a culture medium constituted e.g. by cooked cereal grains, a compost or a suitably enriched inert material, said contents being sterilized and cooled down to about 25 C; after which said culture medium is sown with stock. The mycelium proliferates under aerobic conditions and consequently it is necessary to allow air to enter the container after it has been filtered so that it is not possible to close completely the container which is merely stopped by a filtering plug such' as cotton pad.

When the mycelium has actually proliferated a number of containers are emptied into a same bag which is then shipped to the user, the bag being kept at a low temperature during transportation so as to cut out any continuation of the proliferation of the mycelium. However, it is a difficult matter to fill the bag with the culture medium under sterile conditions and there is a risk of obtaining cultures which are not pure.

To remove this drawback, it has already been proposed to provide for this proliferation of the stock within a fluidtight bag of a suitable plastic material such as polyvinyl or polyvinylidene chloride and to deliver the bag directly to the user after the bag has been fluidtightly closed. But, in such a case, it is necessary to leave the bag partly open with a cotton pad stopping its opening during the proliferation of the mycelium.

It has also been proposed to provide forthe proliferation of the mycelium within a polypropylene flask the wall of which shows selective miniature pores which allow favorable exchanges of gases between the external atmosphere and the culture of mycelium-while no liquid or bacteria can pass whichwould detrimentally affect the culture during the brooding. However, such flasks are necessarily small-sized and their capacity is limited to 3 to 4 litres and their opening must be provided with a filtering member in spite ofthe presence of miniature pores in the flask wall.

The present invention has now for its object an improvement in the culture of mycelium or the like organisms, whereby this culture is considerably simplified, the proliferation of the microorganisms and their stocking being provided for within a single large-sized bag adapted to be closed as soon as the stock has been in troduced into it, without it being necessary to close this bag with a filtering plug.

According to my invention, the culture medium sown with mycelium is introduced into a bag of paper impregnated with paraffin, which is closed, for instance by a bellow-shaped pleating after which the culture is allowed to proliferate and when the proliferation is ended the bag is stored in a cool chamberand is ready.

for delivery.

I found in fact that paraffined paper ensured bacteriological protection while it allowed free exchange with the external atmosphere of air and of the gases evolved by the metabolism of micro-organisms. It is therefore no longer necessary to provide a filtering plug and the culture obtained is perfectly pure.

1 resort preferably to a bag made of two or more sheets of paraffined paper. The support ofthe mycelium remains thus more easily moist and it is possible to use thinner sheets, which prevents the layer ofpaper-impregnating paraffin from breaking which would mean a breaking of the bacteriological barrier. The paraffined paper sheet or sheets are preferably arranged in a manner such that the paraffin layer may face the inside of the bag.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention which allows the culture to be controlled before its delivery, the culture medium sown with mycelium is introduced inside a first yielding and transparent bag of plastics say of polyethylene or polypropylene, the wall of which bag is perforated, said first bag being inserted in the bag of paraffined paper.

At the end of the proliferation, it is an easy matter to remove the bag of plastics enclosing the support loaded with mycelium whereby it is possible to examine the culture throughout its surface before it is delivered. If this examination proves satisfactory, chiefly as concerns the degree of development of the culture, its structure and the purity of the mycelium, the first or inner bag is reintroduced inside the bag of paraffined paper and the arrangement is finally closed.

The inner perforated bag of plastics shows, furthermore, the advantage of uniformizing the exchange of gases and of cutting out the condensation of the breath ing water on the parafined paper. It plays thus the part of a diffuser; the mycelium grows more uniformly and the kilns require less attention in the control of moisture and temperature.

My invention has also for its object a system of bags for the execution of the above-described method. Said system is characterized by the fact that it includes a first bag, a second bag of paraffined paper enclosing the first bag, possibly a third bag of paraffined paper enclosing the two first bags and lastly a fourth bag of strong paper enclosing the preceding bags.

There are described hereinafter by way of example and in a non-limiting sense two embodiments of my improved method of cultivation, reference being made to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly torn off of a bag adapted for use with said improved method.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, partly torn off of another bag or system of bags adapted for use with said method.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the perforated bag of plastics forming part of the system of bags according to FIG. 2.

FIG. 1 shows a bag designated generally by the reference number 1 and the wall of which is formed by two sheets of paraffined paper 2 and. 3 and by an outer sheet of strong paper 4. This bag is provided with a flat bottom5 and the ratio between length and breadth is equal to about 2. The layers of paraffin impregnating the sheets 2 and 3 face the inside of the bag.

The bag 1 is first sterilized by chemical means at a low temperature, for instance bysubjecting it to a body of steam containing formaldehyde.

On the other hand, the culture medium is sterilized and there are added thereto seeds'of micro-organisms such as mycelium, which is thoroughly admixed with the medium.

The sown culture medium 6 is then poured into the bag l'so as to fill substantially one half of the latter. This being done, the bag is closed by a bellow-shaped pleating, the successive folds of the upper edges of the bag ensuring fluidtightness as illustrated at 7. The folds may be held fast by clips or staples 8; The bag assumes thus a parallelopipedic shape and its wall thickness is comparatively small which acts favorably on the proliferation of the mycelium.

A fraction of the support carrying the living and actively breathing mycelium remains always at a small distance from any wall of the bag providing exchange of gases and heat with the sterilized and conditioned air of the chamber in which the mycelium grows, the maximum distance between a point inside the bag and a wall of the latter cannot rise above one half breadth of the bag.

The bag thus filled is left in premises at a suitable temperature ranging for instance between 17 and 26C. When the proliferation is at an end, the bag is stored in a cold location and can be delivered without it being necessary to open it.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 et 3, the culture medium 6 sown with mycelium is introduced into a system of four bags nested within one another, to wit: a bag 9 of transparent perforated plastics, a second bag 2 of paraffined paper enclosing the bag 9, a third bag 3 of paraffined paper enclosing the bags 9 and 2 and lastly a fourth bag 4 of strong paper enclosing the preceding bags.

The bag 9 may, for instance, be made of polyethylene, polypropylene or the product sold under the registered Trade Mark Rilsan. Its perforations are advantageously constituted by small holes the diameter of which is approximately 0.8mm, the ratio between the total surfaces of the holes and of the entire bag ranging between 1 100 and l 300.

The mycelium is cultivated as already disclosed by introducing the freshly sterilized support 6 carrying the mycelium into the bag 9.

At the moment of the delivery of the culture medium, the bag containing the culture is taken out of the other bugs whereby said culture medium may be examined and checked before actual delivery. If the examination proves satisfactory, the bag 9 is reintroduced into the bag system 2-3-4 and the whole arrangement is closed by folding repeatedly the superposed upper edges of the bags as illustrated at 7.

Obviously, the invention is by no means limited to the embodiments described and illustrated and it covers all the modifications thereof falling within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

l. A process for cultivating fungus mycelium com prising the steps of:

a. sterilizing a fungus mycelium culture medium;

b. introducing the sterilized fungus mycelium medium into a perforated transparent plastic bag together with fungus mycelium seed, said bag having perforations in an amount such that the perforation area is in a ratio to the total bag area of 11100 to 1:300;

c. enclosing the perforated transparent plastic bag containing the fungus mycelium medium and seed in a paraffined-paper bag allowing free exchange of air between the interior and the exterior of said plastic bag while leaving a space therein containing an atmosphere compatible with fungus mycelium cultivation which will permit growth of the fungus mycelium within the plastic bag;

d. enclosing the paraffined-paper bag and the contents thereof in a strong outer bag, the bags having their mouths sealed by pleating together; and

e. storing said bags at a temperature between 17 and 26C for a period sufficient to effect fungus mycelium proliferation in said medium, and thereafter storing said bags without opening the same at a cold location.

2. The process defined in claim 1 wherein said paraffined-paper bag has a paraffin-coated surface facing said medium.

3. The process defined in claim 2, further comprising the step of enclosing said paraffmed-paper bag and the contents thereof in a second paraffined-paper bag between steps (c) and (d) and introducing same, together with its contents, into said outer bag. 

1. A PROCESS FOR CULTIVATING FUNGUS MYCELIUM COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: A. STERILIZING A FUNGUS MYCELIUM CULTURE MEDIUM; B. INTRODUCING THE STERILIZED FUNGUS MYCELIUM MEDIUM INTO A PERFORATED TRANSPARENT PLASTIC BAG TOGETHER WITH FUNGUS MYCELIUM SEED, SAID BAG HAVING PERFORATIONS IN AN AMOUNT SUCH THAT THE PERFORATION AREA IS IN A RATIO TO THE TOTAL BAG AREA OF 1:100 TO 1:300; C. ENCLOSING THE PERFORATED TRANSPARENT PLASTIC BAG CONTAINING THE FUNGUS MYCELIUM MEDIUM AND SEED IN A PARAFFINED-PAPER BAG ALLOWING FREE EXCHANGE OF AIR BETWEEN THE INTERIOR AND THE EXTERIOR OF SAID PLASTIC BAG WHILE LEAVING A SPACE THEREIN CONTAINING AN ATMOSPHERE COMPATIBLE WITH FUNGUS MYCELIUM CULTIVATION WHICH WILL PERMIT GROWTH OF THE FUNGUS MYCELIUM WITHIN THE PLASTIC BAG; D. ENCLOSING THE PARAFFINED-PAPER BAG AND THE CONTENTS THEREOF IN A STRONG OUTER BAG, THE BAGS HAVING THEIR MOUTHS SEALED BY PLEATING TOGETHER; AND E. STORING SAID BAGS AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN 17* AND 26*C FOR A PERIOD SUFFICIENT TO EFFECT FUNGUS MYCELIUM PROLIFERATION IN SAID MEDIUM, AND THEREAFTER STORING SAID BAGS WITHOUT OPENING THE SAME AT A COLD LOCATION.
 2. The process defined in claim 1 wherein said paraffined-paper bag has a paraffin-coated surface facing said medium.
 3. The process defined in claim 2, further comprising the step of enclosing said paraffined-paper bag and the contents thereof in a second paraffined-paper bag between stePs (c) and (d) and introducing same, together with its contents, into said outer bag. 